The Boat is Back in Town...

Just this past weekend, I finally had a chance to get my boat on on the water for the first time this season.

Katy and I (and our dog Chessie) took the boat out to Lake Quinsigamond in Worcester for a few hours on Saturday. We didn't do much fishing though. I was more interested in making sure everything was working correctly after winter storage. Katy was content with doing a little casting practice. Chessie was just happy to be there with us, soaking up the sun. We had an incredible stretch of weather last week here in New England. Blue skies and warm temperatures. Outstanding.

For my friends at the Hall of Justice who politely listen to me go on and on about fishing and boating, and promises of a cigar night out on the water, I thought I should describe just what kind of boat I own and perhaps show a few pictures of it.

I should mention up front that it's the first boat I've ever owned, so I'm still learning the ropes so to speak.

My boat is an 18.5 foot SmokerCraft. It's a 2000 that I bought used last year. It has a 3.0L Mercury Inboard/Outboard engine. It has a small livewell, and the two rear seats can be repositioned onto the bow and the stern as swivel fishing chairs.

I think the boat is best described as a "Runabout". Technically, it's a Fish and Ski model. The term "Fish and Ski" is something boat manufacturers dreamed up to describe a boat that should be perfect for a guy like me. Something that works well for both fishing and family fun on the water, and in my case it fits the bill just fine; for the more serious fisherman or water skier, I suspect it's perfectly suited for neither fishing nor skiing.

The boat ran well on Saturday with a few minor glitches that I need to work out. The engine temperature keeps fluctuating between 140F and 180F degrees. I checked with my repair shop on this just to make sure this was normal and they confirmed that the engine's cooling system is working just as it should.

The biggest concern is that the bilge pump wouldn't work. But when I got it back home, it worked fine. Yet another thing to keep an eye on, and that convinced me that I need to buy a manual bilge pump. I also need to track down where the water is leaking in from. I know all boats leak some, but in my case I think it's a little excessive. The boat looks to be taking on about 3-4 gallons every 2 hours. I suspect water is leaking in where the livewell inlet is on the stern. I'll be taking a closer look at that over next few days.

In the beginning, there was the King Mackerel

Since this is my first post, and since I plan on talking about fishing mostly, I figured I would start at the beginning...

I've been into fishing since as far back as I can remember, and that would be about 1st grade in Mauldin, South Carolina where I grew up. Actually, I lived in lots of different places as a child, but South Carolina is about as far back as my memory can go.

I remember my father packing up the family to do some catfishing during those blazing hot summer weekends. We'd go to some small pond or another. I recall that all the ponds in that part of SC were really muddy, it's all that red Carolina clay. Being such a little tike, I don't think I ever caught much, but watching my father and older brothers real in those "mighty" 12 inch catfish planted the seed in me that would eventually grow into a real love of the sport.

My father was a field service engineer for Honeywell during the late 60's on through the late 80's. We moved around alot since the projects he worked on were all military related (infrared camera systems). It was like being a military brat without the military father. Though he did serve in the Army during his younger years, my dad wasn't a stickler for protocol. I think he handled those crazy clothes and long hair his kids were into pretty well actually.

No, my old man was a kid from the farm at heart. He grew up on a farm in Eau Claire, Wisconsin. He joined the Army, learned radio electronics, and eventually ended up working at Honeywell. But he was always into fishing and hunting. Those were the only sports he learned as a child, and he kept them with him all through his life.

He took me on lots of fishing trips while I was growing up... but I think it was when we moved to a little town in the Florida panhandle called Destin that my interest in fishing really lit up. Destin was pretty small back around 1977 when we moved there. I'm told Destin is anything BUT small these days, though I haven't been back there in over 20 years.

My dad took me out on a fishing trip one weekend with a co-worker of his who owned a fairly large sailboat. That would have been around October 1977 I think. It was during Destin's annual fishing rodeo. We were trolling for King Mackerel that day. I suppose it was luck that we got a strike while it was my turn to watch the lines we were trolling. When it was all over, I had landed the biggest fish I had ever caught in my life. We went on to catch a few more that day.. but I think mine was the biggest.

That's me when I was 11 years old. An that's and my father standing next to me.

I've done a lot of fishing since then. I've caught a lot of fish that were smaller, some that were bigger.... but that King Mackerel is my favorite.